> Not so sure about that, Jessica.=A0=A0 These are titles that have been> out of distribution well over 10 years...=A0 In any case, it's worth a> good faith effort to identify current rights holders.>=20> Gary>=20

Gary, in this regard, "orphaned" can be very subjective. Milestone and Kino=20
make their reputations on distributing films that have been long out of=20
distribution. Many of them have been restored or preserved over the years, b=
ut=20
perhaps not in distribution. CHAC, I AM CUBA and WINTER SOLDIER are such exa=
mples.=20
All of them had been out-of-distribution since at least the 1970s, but they=20=
all=20
had legit owners who still cared for the materials.

When we called a house across the street "abandoned," our friend who works=20
for the town corrected me, saying it just wasn't occupied. The owner was pay=
ing=20
insurance and taxes on the property, so there was a big difference. The same=
=20
idea applies to film, I believe.

However, we're all in agreement that the rights-holders should be contacted=20
and frankly, I think it's a great idea. There are hundreds of films that=20
libraries should make available that the distributors can't afford to put ou=
t.=20
Milestone and Kino use a wonderful copyright researcher, Eli Savada, if you=20=
ever=20
need his contact info.

I'm switching this over to Videolib, by the way, like a well-behaved=20
listserver...

Not so sure about tha=
t, Jessica.=A0=A0 These are titles that have been
out of distribution well over 10 years...=A0 In any case, it's worth a
good faith effort to identify current rights holders.

Gary

Gary, in this regard, "orphaned" can be very subjective. Milestone and Ki=
no make their reputations on distributing films that have been long out of d=
istribution. Many of them have been restored or preserved over the years, bu=
t perhaps not in distribution. CHAC, I AM CUBA and WINTER SOLDIER are such e=
xamples. All of them had been out-of-distribution since at least the 1970s,=20=
but they all had legit owners who still cared for the materials.

When we called a house across the street "abandoned," our friend who works f=
or the town corrected me, saying it just wasn't occupied. The owner was payi=
ng insurance and taxes on the property, so there was a big difference. The s=
ame idea applies to film, I believe.

However, we're all in agreement that the rights-holders should be contacted=20=
and frankly, I think it's a great idea. There are hundreds of films that lib=
raries should make available that the distributors can't afford to put out.=20=
Milestone and Kino use a wonderful copyright researcher, Eli Savada, if you=20=
ever need his contact info.

I'm switching this over to Videolib, by the way, like a well-behaved listser=
ver...